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August 2008
The Fearless Friday Forecast
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Man, I never thought this day would get here. A lot sure has happened since January 7, when LSU body-slammed Ohio State in New Orleans to give the SEC its second straight national championship. Just a few of the highlights:
**—A tornado hit the Georgia Dome in March, but now it’s all spiffy again and ready for Saturday night’s showdown between Alabama and Clemson.
**—The BCS commissioners thought about going to a four-team playoff (or at least they say they did.) But they decided that the status quo in the post-season for the next six years.
**—Georgia parlayed an impressive win over Hawaii in the Sugar Bowl into a unanimous No. 1 ranking and now must defend it against an unprecedented schedule.
**—Speaking of Georgia, we lost UGA VI in June. Regardless of who you pull for you have to admit that he was a Damn good dog. I sent some of the video of his funeral at Sanford Stadium to my friends around the country. In it the Rev. Claude McBride ends the service by saying: “Sic’ em UGA. Woof. Woof. Amen!” I’m sorry, folks, but you just don’t get that in the Big Ten. UGA VII makes his debut tomorrow in Athens.
And finally, not a moment too soon, we have the first Fearless Friday Forecast of the 2008 season. As first weekends go, this one is pretty good. But here’s today’s question: Was last season, with all of the craziness, just an aberration or a sign of things to come? Is there an Appalachian State over Michigan out there this weekend?
I sure hope so.
Let’s get on the with the picks:
1. Georgia Southern at Georgia: The Bulldogs get an early tee time (12:30 p.m.) on Saturday and they should make the most of it. This is a game where Georgia needs to work on that offensive line, which needs to rally a little bit after the loss of LT Trinton Sturdivant. We also need to see who is going to get the football after Knowshon Moreno completes his obligatory 15-18 carries. It’s time for Georgia to start getting their ducks in a row for that Sept. 13 trip to South Carolina. Georgia 45, Georgia Southern 14.
2. Clemson vs. Alabama (Georgia Dome): Early in the summer it appeared that Clemson just had too much firepower for the Crimson Tide. But it looks like Alabama will have a little more pop in the offense with the addition of freshman WR Julio Jones and they now have a mammoth athlete at the nose tackle in Terrence Cody. I still think Clemson wins the game but it’s going to be tight. Very, very tight. Clemson 20, Alabama 17.
3. Appalachian State at LSU: After what Appalachian State did at Michigan’s Big House in the 2007 opener, there is no chance that the Tigers are going to overlook the Mountaineers from Boone, who have won three straight Division I-AA national championships. Appalachian State lost a bunch of good players but it still has quarterback Armanti Edwards, who drives good defenses crazy with his ability to move around and avoid pressure. LSU wins the game but Edwards and the Mountaineers keep it uncomfortably close for three quarters. LSU 31, Appalachian State 17.
4. Hawaii at Florida: It doesn’t look like Percy Harvin is going to play for the Gators but it won’t matter. June Jones is not the coach any more and QB Colt Brennan is also long gone. Florida gets the chance to field test its new offense which has surrounded QB Tim Tebow with several more weapons. The defense will have a confidence booster against the Hawaii offensive line. The last time Hawaii lined up against a team from the SEC (Georgia in the Sugar Bowl) it didn’t look pretty. This one will not look pretty either Florida 56, Hawaii 17.
5. Louisiana-Monroe at Auburn: Tony Franklin’s spread offense is put on display for the home folks at Jordan-Hare Stadium for the first time. We are still waiting to see who will take the first snap-Kodi Burns or Chris Todd-but at the end of the day it won’t matter. Both can do some things to make the defense nervous. Auburn can’t afford to take ULM lightly because of what happened last November in Tuscaloosa. A lot of people (this writer included) are picking Auburn to replace LSU, the defending national champions, atop the SEC West. We’ll get an early indication in this one whether or not Auburn has the right stuff for that. Auburn 31, ULM 13.
6. Memphis at Ole Miss: Ole Miss has not been this excited about a football season since Eli Manning was a senior in 2003. That’s because new coach Houston Nutt inherited enough good players from Ed Orgeron to lead the Rebels to a bowl game this season. Quarterback Jevan Snead, a transfer from Texas, is finally eligible But don’t underestimate Memphis, which just an hour up the road. Tommy West’s team (7-6) finished strong after a 2-4 start last season and returns 16 starters. This is a rivalry game and anything can happen. Ole Miss 31, Memphis 24.
7. Tennessee at UCLA (Monday): For the second straight season the Volunteers open the season out on the West Coast. This trip, however, will be a lot more fun than the 2007 beat down (45-31) the Vols suffered at California. Yes, there are a lot of questions on the Tennessee team as there is a new offensive coordinator (Dave Clawson), new quarterback (Jonathan Crompton) and the hope that the Vols don’t have the same old defense (which finished 11th in the SEC last season). UCLA lost its first two quarterbacks and is down to junior college transfer Kevin Craft. This is not how new coach Rick Neuheisel wanted to start out. Tennessee 27, UCLA 17.
8. Kentucky at Louisville (Sunday): After a historic 2007 season that saw Kentucky beat LSU, the eventual national champions, in Lexington, there is an assumption that the Wildcats will fall back from the eight-victory level in 2008. Nobody lost more offensive firepower than the ‘Cats with the departure of QB Andre Woodson and a bunch of really good playmakers. But Coach Rich Brooks insists this is the deepest team he’s had at Kentucky and that this is clearly the best defense the Wildcats have had in a while. Louisville is still rebuilding post-Bobby Petrino. Kentucky wins with defense. Kentucky 24, Louisville 17.
9. Southern Cal at Virginia: Quarterback Mark Sanchez is going to answer the bell after dislocating this kneecap earlier in the summer. That is bad news for the Cavaliers. With Sanchez running the show, USC is good enough to win them all and play in South Florida for the national title. The last two times the Trojans started the season in the East (2003, 2004) they went on to win at least a share of the national championship. Southern Cal 30, Virginia 14.
10. Missouri vs. Illinois (St. Louis): This will be a very good quarterback battle between Missouri’s Chase Daniel and Juice Williams of Illinois. The Tigers get the edge because they have Jeremy Maclin, the most explosive player this side of Percy Harvin. Some are picking Missouri to beat Oklahoma for the Big 12 championship. We’ll find out in a hurry if the Gary Pinkel’s crew is the real deal. Missouri 31, Illinois 20.
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Are college football fans losing their sense of humor?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Here is your burning question to ponder on this Thursday morning, the first day of the 2008 season:
How many people have NOW heard of Vic Koenning?
Unless you’re a football junkie like those of us on this blog, Koenning, Clemson’s defensive coordinator, was a relatively unknown football coach before this week.
But now Koenning is VERY well known in the state of Alabama for comments he said were a joke concerning Alabama freshmen Julio Jones and B.J. Scott. Koenning told reporters that during the recruiting process he saw Jones and Scott, at separate times, drive off in a luxury car. For those who don’t have a sense of humor, it is a veiled (or not so veiled) reference that perhaps somebody supplied these young men with a car and violated the rules.
Now coaches and fans have been joking about the transportation opportunities of players since the leather helmet days. In the past such comments would not have created a ripple in the media ocean because of the context in which they were made.
But what we have learned is that when it comes to college football, particularly in the internet culture of the 21st century, a good portion of the hardcore fan base in the South does not have a sense of humor. I’m not saying that’s bad. I’m just saying that’s the way it is.
I once saw a sign behind a coach’s desk that said: “College football is not a matter of life and death. It’s much more important than that.”
It is the passion that makes college football in the South the best sport in the world. But it is also the emotion with the greatest potential to hurt the game that we all love.
Let’s look at this logically and not emotionally—if such a thing is possible. If Koenning actually wanted to accuse another school of doing something wrong, would he do it in such an off the cuff manner? It doesn’t make sense.
Koenning shouldn’t have said it. It was a dumb comment, particularly in the media environment of 2008. You can’t be tone deaf to the fact that everything that is said gets around the world in an instant. He now knows that.
My concern is for the bigger picture. When a smart aleck response by a coach gets turned into an international incident like this one was, it gives head coaches more ammunition to keep their assistants locked up and away from the media and the fans. And that hurts the fans because those guys give good insights that you’ll never get from the head coach. For the rest of this season you can bet that Koenning’s answers to questions are going to be “yes” or “no.” That’s not good for the sport.
If we keep going down this road, college football is going to become tightly scripted with very limited access to anyone outside of the program, just like political campaigns. And that can’t be good for the fans.
What’s the answer? Restraint? Rational thought? A sense of humor?
I’m asking. Am I wrong about this?
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The ACC, Clemson need to step up
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is a big football weekend for the ACC.
Is it a make or break weekend? Of course not. It’s a long season, But the next four days are big for the ACC. Here’s why.
The ACC expanded to add Virginia Tech, Miami, and Boston College because it wanted to sit at the same table, both competitively and financially, with the SEC, Big 12, and Big 10. On the financial side of things expansion has been good for the ACC. Very good, in fact.
Competitively? Not so much. The new ACC is still a work in progress.
Here are the important numbers from a story I wrote back in July at the ACC preseason meetings:
1-9: The ACC’s record in BCS Bowl games. Florida State won the 1999 BCS championship. The ACC has lost nine straight since.
2-17: The ACC’s record against non-conference teams ranked in the Top 10 over the past four years.
9-31: The ACC’s record against non-conference teams ranked in the Top 25 the past four years.
0: The number of times the ACC has received an at-large bid to a BCS game in 10 years.
Back in July ACC coaches and other officials assured me that because all the fundamentals were in place, it was just a matter of time before the league stepped up.
This weekend would be a good time to start.
Starting Thursday, the ACC has four non-conference games this weekend against BCS opponents:
Wake Forest at Baylor
N.C. State at South Carolina
Southern Cal at Virginia
Clemson vs. Alabama at the Georgia Dome.
If things go to form, the ACC goes 2-2 with Clemson and Wake Forest winning. Southern Cal is just a lot better than Virginia. N.C. State will play South Carolina tough but the Gamecocks probably win at home.
So what does all of this mean? It means that for the sake of the ACC, Clemson needs to beat Alabama Saturday night. Clemson is the overwhelming favorite to win the ACC and the closest thing the league has to a national championship contender. Miami and Florida State are still at least a year away from competing for a championship. Virginia Tech is completely rebuilding its defense. Georgia Tech, N.C. State, Boston College, and North Carolina all have first or second year coaches.
Clemson is a veteran team with its quarterback, two best running backs, best wide receiver, and seven defensive starters returning. Coach Tommy Bowden is in his 10th season at Clemson.
Alabama is picked to finish third in the SEC West in the second year of Nick Saban’s rebuilding project. At best, Alabama is projected as the fifth or sixth best team in the SEC.
On a week where the SEC grabbed headlines for its 15-year, $2.25 BILLION dollar television deal with ESPN, the ACC needs some good news. It needs the league’s best team to step up and play well on national television.
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CBS, ESPN deals will be huge in recruiting for SEC
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I was still getting calls late Monday night about the SEC’s staggering 15-year deal with ESPN that will reportedly pay the league about $2.25 billion. That deal, coupled with the 15-year deal the SEC has signed with CBS will give the league financial security for a long, long time.
But the benefits to the SEC from these TV deals go far beyond financial. Here are some aspects of the deal that maybe you haven’t thought about:
1. It will be huge for the SEC in recruiting: The games on ESPN and ESPN2 will have a unique national branding as the “SEC on ESPN.” That may not sound like a big deal to you but it will be a major recruiting pitch in the future. No other conference has that kind of branding on ESPN: Not the Big Ten, not the Big 12, and not the ACC. The SEC will be able to walk into a living room and say that every conference game will either be on CBS or one of the ESPN platforms. And if the SEC is recruiting a player outside the nine-state area, the coaches can tell parents that the games will be on the dish as part of ESPN’s Game Plan. This is a huge part of this deal. The NFL has the best television package on the planet but what the SEC has with CBS and ESPN is not far off.
2. The SEC no longer needs its own network: I talked to commissioner Mike Slive late Monday and he told me he was once convinced that an SEC network was the way to go. “I felt that way for about a year because I thought it was the only way we could get everything we wanted in terms of exposure and revenue,” said Slive, a former attorney and judge.
This new deal eliminates the need for the SEC to invest in its own network because ESPN is going to do it for them.
When the SEC representatives sat down to negotiate with ESPN they brought a laundry list of things they felt their own network could do for them. “Every time we would bring up an issue of something that we wanted, ESPN would come back to us and say ‘We can do that for you,’” Slive said. So the SEC gets the benefits of its own network without any of the risk. It will use ESPN’s massive infrastructure instead of having to build its own. “If we start our own network you’re looking at a 20-year commitment at least,” said Slive.
And here’s a question worth pondering. What if the Big Ten had asked ESPN to do this same deal? Would there be a Big Ten Network today?
3. The SEC hired Chuck Gerber: Who is Chuck Gerber, you ask? Gerber spent the past 15 years at ESPN where he, among many things, negotiated television contracts with conferences. But in April the SEC hired Gerber away from ESPN to serve as a consultant as the league prepared to renegotiate its deals with CBS and ESPN. It makes sense. If you are going to negotiate with the TV boys, you want somebody who has lived on that side of the fence who can get inside their brains. More importantly, you want to know what kind of money is actually available for properties like SEC football.
Working for the SEC, Gerber got a 15-year deal with CBS worth about $55 million per year. He got another 15-year deal with ESPN worth about $150 per year. I don’t know what Gerber got as a consulting fee, but he earned his money this year.
“I think I’m going to take the rest of the year off,” said Gerber, who still lives in Connecticut.
Slive’s senior staff, which includes Mark Womack, Mark Whitworth, Charles Hussey, and Charles Bloom, was also big in these negotiations. But hiring Gerber was huge.
FYI. When Gerber made it clear that he was ready to get into the consulting business, some conferences passed on him because he was just leaving ESPN. The SEC hired him BECAUSE he was just leaving ESPN. Decisions like that are why the SEC stays ahead of the curve.
4. This deal shows that college football is king: Other conferences should take heed of this deal because it shows the value of college football in a changing marketplace. While just about all other sports, including college basketball, are hurting when it comes to ratings, college football is more popular than it has ever been and is increasing in value.
Other than the NFL, the TV execs are discovering that college football gives them the most bang for their buck. Collectively CBS and ESPN are investing $3 billion into the SEC over the next 15 years. Those guys don’t throw around that kind of money on an asset that is going to decrease in value over time.
5. Keep the three Daves: I feel badly for my friends at Raycom, who are really the only losers in this deal. Raycom, which carries the 12:30 p.m. game, got squeezed out when ESPN decided it wanted to own all of the television rights not belonging to CBS. Raycom will still do the early SEC games this season, which is the last in the current deal. Next season ESPN Regional Television (ERT) will handle the syndicated package of games.
This is just one man’s opinion, but if ESPN is smart, they’ll keep the same broadcast team of Dave Neal, Dave Archer, and Dave Baker to do the early SEC games. In fact, the SEC should insist on it. Continuity is important, especially in the over the air package of games, which has played an important role in the growth of the conference on TV. It’s just something to think about.
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Will UGA take care of business against Ga. Southern?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Okay. It is FINALLY game week. It seems like we’ve said it all and written it all more than once this summer. But here are five things we STILL don’t know about the SEC as we head into Thursday’s opening night:
1. Will Georgia take care of business against Georgia Southern? When a team begins a season with great expectations, like No. 1 Georgia, it sometimes takes the players a while to really get out of the gate. But understand this: With all due respect to Georgia Southern, this ain’t Appalachian State coming to Sanford Stadium on Saturday.
The Eagles are a rebuilding team. Chris Hatcher is going to turn Georgia Southern into a national I-AA power again, but it won’t be this season. Georgia Southern has a new quarterback now that the splendid Jayson Foster, the Walter Payton Award winner, has gone on to the NFL. And it doesn’t help Georgia Southern’s cause that Hatcher had to suspend eight players for this game.
The point is that a very important trip to South Carolina is coming up on Sept. 13. Georgia needs to use this game and the tougher contest with Central Michigan on Sept. 6 to get ready to meet the Head Ball Coach in Columbia. There really isn’t time to be sloppy on Saturday.
It’s a 12:30 game. It will be hot. The game should be over at halftime. UGA VII will be making his debut and he doesn’t need to go through more than one bag of ice in this one.
2. How will Julio Jones and the Alabama freshmen perform when the stadium is full and the world is watching?:
A former coach used to tell me that he never completely trusted how a player looked in practice. “He’s got to prove it to me when the stadium is full and the band’s playing,” he would say.
Alabama has what some are saying is the best freshman class in the land. It would be hard to come up a more high profile debut than Saturday night’s Chick-fil-A Kickoff at the Georgia Dome against Clemson.
When Tom Arnold goes to Alabama’s practice and calls Julio Jones is the best receiver he’s ever seen, well, that just gets my attention. I’ve heard this kid compared to everybody from Michael Irvin to Randy Moss to Jerry Rice. He does look good in a practice uniform.
Here is my question. Nick Saban is known for throwing talented freshmen into the fire to see how they perform. Will new OC Jim McElwain try to hit a big play early and get Clemson, the ACC favorite, back on its heels? If I’m Alabama I’ve got nothing to lose in this game. I’m going to come out smokin’.
Besides, I’m a defense guy so I want to see JUCO transfer Terrence Cody, the big guy in the middle of the line and OLB Jerrell Harris. If both those guys play well, Alabama has a real shot in this game.
3. How many offensive plays will Auburn run? Louisiana-Monroe is picking up a check for $625,000 to visit Auburn on Saturday. The Tigers need to make the most of this opportunity with the first SEC game coming up on Sept. 13 at Mississippi State.
New OC Tony Franklin told me that Auburn has yet to run the spread offense as fast as he would like. The players simply didn’t know the offense well enough in the Chick-fil-A Bowl last December for Franklin to really turn it loose.
That is about to change. Franklin has two quarterbacks (Kodi Burns, Chris Todd) who are now very familiar with this scheme. Franklin insists that both quarterbacks will play a lot because both, quite frankly, are pretty good.
Let’s see how many plays the Tigers run on Saturday. Division I-A Teams averaged just about 72 offensive plays per game last season. Thanks to an overtime Auburn ran 90 against Clemson with the offense being run at about 60 percent, Franklin said.
I say Auburn runs 80-85 plays against ULM.
4. Who’s going to start at QB for LSU? I think Andrew Hatch, the transfer from Harvard, will take the first snap against Appalachian State on Saturday (5 p.m., ESPN). Coach Les Miles has gone to great pains to keep red-shirt freshman Jarrett Lee and true freshman Jordan Jefferson in the discussion. But understand this. LSU is so good on the offensive line that I could probably play quarterback for the Tigers. (Okay, slight exaggeration).
I wrote a story for the print side this morning that talks about Hatch being in the mold of Matt Mauck and Matt Flynn-smart athletes who made good decisions and relatively few mistakes. Hatch, who is a 22-year old sophomore, is the guy to play that role this season.
I think LSU will use more than one quarterback, particularly early in the season in order to provide a change of pace. But as LSU gets into the conference schedule at Auburn on Sept. 20, look for Miles to pull in the reins and be more conservative on offense. Why? Simple. The LSU defensive line may have lost Glenn Dorsey, the Outland Trophy winner, but it will still be the best in America this season.
5. Is Tommy Beecher ready for prime time? We’ll find out Thursday night when Beecher starts at QB for South Carolina against N. C. State (8 p.m., ESPN). In high school Beecher, from Concord, N.C., was one of those guys who just knew how to win.
The best thing I’ve read about Beecher was written on Sunday by my good friend Ron Morris of The State newspaper in Columbia. If you want understand what makes Beecher tick, click here and check out the story.
In my last meeting with Steve Spurrier this summer he expressed a lot of confidence in Beecher, who will be making his first college start in the nationally televised game on ESPN. Spurrier told me he has scaled back the offense a little bit in an effort to get Beecher off to a good start against the Wolfpack. We’ll be watching.
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Crowe says Tech will win an ACC title
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s Friday and we’re only one week away from the first “Fearless Friday Forecast” of the 2008 season.
On Fridays I like to start this blog and see where the spirit will lead me. So here is some random stuff that just caught my attention this week:
1. Crowe says Georgia Tech will win an ACC championship under Johnson: Jacksonville State coach Jack Crowe has every reason to say nice things about Paul Johnson, the new head coach at Georgia Tech. Crowe brings his Gamecock team to historic Bobby Dodd Stadium next Thursday night.
But Crowe said he is not just being nice when he predicts that Georgia Tech will win an ACC championship under Johnson. He’s just looking at the film.
“I can’t tell you when it’s going to be but I’ve seen Paul’s offense and I know how he coaches,” said Crowe, the former head coach at Arkansas. “He will finally get to run his system with a better caliber of athlete than he was able to get at Navy. People in the ACC will see the offense only one time each year and basically have only four days to get ready for it. That makes a huge difference.
“Give him some time to get his kind of players into his system. When his offense is run right, you can’t believe how much pressure it puts on a defense.”
2. An SEC officiating crew will work Alabama-Clemson: Somebody asked me this week which league, the SEC or ACC, would provide the officials for next week’s Chick-fil-A Kickoff between Alabama and Clemson game at the Georgia Dome. Normally, the league represented by the visiting school provides the game officials. When Florida plays at Florida State, for example, SEC officials work the game.
But this is a neutral site game. I did some calling around and it turns out that in the negotiations between Alabama and Clemson, it was agreed to make Clemson the designated home team and thus the Tigers get to wear their orange jerseys. In exchange SEC officials were chosen to work the game. It was no more complicated than that.
3. Alabama-Virginia Tech deal not done yet: I called Gary Stokan of the Atlanta Sports Council to see where things stood on next year’s Chick-fil-A Kickoff. Virginia Tech has already committed to play. Alabama coach Nick Saban wants to come back but there are still some scheduling issues that have not been resolved. Specifically, Alabama needs to move a road game with Tulane, set for 2009, to another season and find another home opponent. That would give Alabama seven home games in 2009 and leave one game free to come back to Atlanta.
A lot of people are starting to get involved in this one. ESPN may yet flex its muscles and become the ultimate broker.
“We’re working on it but we haven’t gotten it done yet,” said Stokan. “I just know that Nick wants to do it if the scheduling issues can be resolved.”
Prediction: The deal will get done because Saban knows the recruiting bump he’ll get by playing in this year’s game and next year’s game in Atlanta. Because of the corporate involvement by Chick-fil-A and The Home Depot, ESPN and College Game Day are locked in to this game as long as the match-up is strong. Too many people stand to benefit from this game. It will happen.
4. ESPN, SEC may be hatching another big deal: Last week the SEC made a 15-year deal with CBS to televise that league’s national game of the week. I’m hearing that ESPN is thinking seriously about also signing a 15-year deal with the SEC as well. But this deal may have an interesting twist. Under this deal ESPN would purchase all of the remaining television rights that CBS does not own.
Why would ESPN do this? Simple. If ESPN owned the remaining rights, it could put several SEC games on its various platforms (ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, ESPN360) and then, whatever rights it had left and did not want, it could sell back to a group like Raycom or even Comcast. Distribution, however, could be an issue because a lot of cable systems do not carry ESPNU or 360 on their basic package. And those distribution issues could ultimately complicate the deal. Some of those distribution issues could be addressed by video streaming on the Internet, which is going to be a big part of these future TV deals.
Now to do all this ESPN would have to pony up some pretty big bucks over a long period of time. But the network has shown it is willing to pay handsomely for college football.
Stay tuned. As big as the CBS deal was for the SEC, this one will not be far behind if it happens.
And consider this: Last year the SEC made $50.6 million from its TV rights for regular season football. If this deal gets done, I’m hearing that that figure could almost double.
5. Warren a big get for Tennessee: The NCAA has finally cleared tight end Brandon Warren to play for Tennessee this season. Warren, you’ll remember, is from Alcoa, Tenn., just a short trip from Knoxville. He originally signed with Florida State and, after a freshman season in 2006 where he caught 27 passes for 301 yards for the Seminoles, wanted to come home and attend Tennessee. His mother had been diagnosed with cancer.
For reasons still unclear, FSU coach Bobby Bowden would not release Warren from his scholarship. That began a long and winding process to get Warren eligible for 2008. That process is now over.
Here is what matters now. If Warren plays as good as he looks in a uniform, he will be a great weapon for new offensive coordinator Dave Clawson. I talked to the coaches about Warren when I was there earlier this summer and saw the kid practice. With his size, speed and good hands, he is certainly the best tight end Tennessee has had since Jason Witten.
This Tennessee offense will be marked by its ability to move players around to create mismatches with the defense. Warren gives Clawson another tool that will enable him to do that.
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How will new clock rules change the game?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
I was on a conference call yesterday with some NCAA and college football officials to discuss a number of aspects about the upcoming season. Since the season starts a week from today, here are some new rules and points of emphasis that will probably interest you and my take on why you, as a fan, should care.
1. New clock rule No. 1: This season the NCAA will adopt a 40/25 second play clock like the one used in the NFL. The 40-second clock will begin as soon as a play is blown dead.
If there is a stoppage of play for a penalty, or after a timeout, etc., then the 25-second clock will be used and will begin as soon as the ball is marked ready for play.
Fans really won’t be able to tell the difference because under the old rules, when a play was over, it would usually take between 13-15 seconds for the officials to mark the ball ready for play and start the 25-second play clock. So the amount of time between plays basically won’t change.
Here’s why the 40-second clock was necessary. Coaches were telling me that some officiating crews were slower than others in getting the ball ready after the end of a play. So depending on what crew you got, the pace of play would vary. Coaches don’t like that.
“I like it (the new rule) because it gives you a more consistent pace of play,” Auburn OC Tony Franklin said. “We like to play fast and this allows us to play fast.”
There could be one difference brought about by the 40-second clock. I’m expecting to see more no-huddle offenses this season as coaches try to take advantage of the new clock to get in a few extra offensive plays per game. But there is a catch. If the offense substitutes, then the defense must be given a chance to bring in players as well. So the official will stand over the ball until all the substitutions are made. If the offense does not substitute, it can snap the ball as soon as the officials put it down.
2. New clock rule No. 2: This, in my opinion, is the big change and the one that fans will notice. In years past when the ball was run out of bounds, the game clock would stop and would not start again until the ball was snapped on the next play. This season when the ball goes out of bounds the game clock will still stop. But once the ball is ready for play, the official will immediately re-start the game clock.
The old rules will go back into effect for the last two minutes of the half and the last two minutes of the game. That gives teams a chance to run the two-minute drill and potentially make a comeback.
And why are we doing this? It’s yet another attempt (the third in three years) to speed up the game without losing too many offensive plays. Two years ago you’ll remember that they put in a bunch of rules changes that shortened the game but cut out about 13 offensive plays on average. The backlash from coaches and fans was severe.
So they went back to basically the old rules last year and games ran 3:22. College football officials would like to get games that average closer to three hours. This rule will definitely speed up the game and the hope is that the increased pace of play that is brought about by the 40-second clock will keep most of the plays in.
Here is the stat to watch. Last year there were on average 143.3 offensive plays per game, or about 72 per team. Watch the first month of the season and see if that figure goes up or down.
Here’s where the no huddle offense comes into play again. In last December’s Chick-fil-A Bowl, Auburn ran 90 plays against Clemson.
“It hard to say what the effect will be but if you want to play fast these rules will allow you to do it,” South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said.
I know what you’re saying: Why don’t they just cut out some of the commercials and the games will be shorter? You know the answer. TV won’t cut out commercials and the band is not going to shorten half time.
3. Keep it clean; keep it safe: You could see an unusual number of 15-yard penalties in the first few games. Here’s why:
Football officials have been told that this season there will be a new emphasis on cleaning up unsportsmanlike conduct and unnecessary roughness. Officials will be less tolerant of taunting, trash talking and plays they believe are meant to injure another player.
For example, the NCAA has ruled that the “horse-collar” tackle (pulling a guy down from behind by reaching inside the top of his shoulder pads) will draw an automatic 15-yard penalty.
Also the “chop block” rule has been simplified. There used to be situations that allowed two players to block another player high (around the shoulder pads) and low (around his knees) at the same time. Not any more. You block a guy high-low and it’s a flag.
“If we are going to err, we’re going to err on the side of player safety,” said Dave Parry, the Big 10 supervisor of officials. “And we’re going to back our officials even if they are a little strict.”
My experience is when officials are told that something is a point of emphasis, you see it called a lot early in the season in order to get the message across to the players and coaches.
4. Don’t kick it OB: This is another rule that will speed up the game and change some strategy. Under the old rule, if a kickoff went out of bounds, the receiving team got the ball at the 35-yard line. This season the penalty for a kickoff out of bounds will give the offense the ball at its own 40-yad line.
Here is why that is significant: In the past, with the ball being kicked off at the 30-yard line, receiving teams with good return people might elect for a re-kick if the kickoff went out of bounds. It took a lot of time to get all of the players back onto the field and in position to kick off again.
Most coaches are telling me that they will just take the ball on the 40 after an OB kickoff because it’s such good field position.
But here is something to watch for and something coaches will try to avoid. The rule states that the penalty for a kickoff out of bounds is to award the ball to the offense 30 yards from the spot of the kick. So if a kicker sails the ball out of bounds and the receiving team asks for a re-kick, it will take place from the kicker’s 25-yard line. If he kicks the ball out of bounds AGAIN, the offense gets the ball on the 45. That’s huge. So if the opponent thinks you have a shaky kickoff guy, they might make you kick it again.
5. Officials seek consistency; go national: I guess it’s because I’ve been watching college football a long time, but I think this is a really big deal.
In a major effort to make officiating more consistent from conference to conference, the powers that be have created College Football Officiating, LLC. Parry will be its first national coordinator.
This is something college football has needed for a long time because, frankly, different leagues put different emphasis and interpretation on the rules. Coaches would actually adjust their thinking in a game based on where the officials were from.
“We want to eliminate the phrase ‘We don’t call it that way in our conference,’” Parry said. “We don’t want coaches and fans and players to be worried about which particular crew is working which game.”
The organization will hold clinics and send out DVDs to supervisors of officials across the country to point out areas where there may be some inconsistency in officiating. There will be accountability throughout the system, something that is handled only on the local level now.
For a long time coaches have been wanting something to make sure that the rules were interpreted consistently across all conferences. This organization will attempt to do that. It can only help.
“I can’t remember a time when there has been more excitement about a change in officiating,” said Grant Teaff, the executive director of the American Football Coaches Association. “All our coaches want is consistency.
Here is a bonus point that I found interesting.
Trying to stay cool: Ron Courson, Georgia’s director of sports medicine, is very involved in the effort to reduce heat-related injuries in the game. Courson, who is considered to be one of the best sports medicine guys in the country, pointed out to us that 90 percent of the heat related problems in college football take place during preseason practice. That makes sense because the practice takes place in the heat of August when some guys are not in the best of shape, particularly the big fellas.
But Courson said that heat related problems are down, in part, because true freshmen are allowed to come to summer school before the fall semester.
“We have two months to get them in and help them get acclimated to the heat,” Courson said. “It also gives us a chance to get a better grip on their medical history so that we can be proactive from a prevention standpoint. In the past they showed up on reporting day with everybody else.”
It’s such a common sense thing. You wonder why nobody thought of it before.
One week to go. I’m ready to see some football. How about you?
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TONY BARNHART’S BCS GAME PREDICTIONS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mr. College Football has spoken. Now it’s your turn. Give us your BCS bowl projections below.
BCS CHAMPIONSHIP
Jan. 8, 2009, Miami
Georgia (SEC champ) vs. USC (Pac-10 champ)
ROSE BOWL
Jan. 1, 2009, Pasadena, Calif.
Ohio State (Big Ten champ) vs. Arizona State (at-large)
ORANGE BOWL
Jan. 1, 2009, Miami
Clemson (ACC champ) vs. Oklahoma (at-large)
FIESTA BOWL
Jan. 5, 2009, Glendale, Ariz.
Missouri (Big 12 champ) vs. BYU (at-large)
SUGAR BOWL
Jan. 2, 2009, New Orleans
Florida (at-large) vs. West Virginia (Big East champ)
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An early look at Jacksonville State
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jacksonville, Ala. - A week from tomorrow, Georgia Tech will open the 2008 season against Division I-AA Jacksonville State. There will two major story lines in the game:
• Georgia Tech’s first game under new coach Paul Johnson.
• The debut of Jacksonville State quarterback Ryan Perrilloux, the transfer from LSU.
Perrilloux was the MVP of the SEC championship game last December when LSU beat Tennessee 21-14. Had he remained at LSU, Perrilloux would now be the starting quarterback for the defending national champions. But he didn’t stay. He was kicked off the team.
On Tuesday I had lunch with Perrilloux and his new head coach, Jack Crowe. I’m working on a story for next week about Perrilloux’s long and winding road to Jacksonville State and how much he is looking forward to next week’s game with Georgia Tech. But for now I want to share five nuggets of information with you about Jacksonville State that will not make the story:
1. Georgia Tech got a good deal: Crowe made the deal to play at Georgia Tech because of his old friend, Chan Gailey, the Yellow Jackets’ former coach.
“Financially, we need to play a BCS team every year if we can,” Crowe said. “When I can play my friends I like to do that.”
And Georgia Tech got the good friend discount when it signed a two-game deal with Jacksonville State.
Jacksonville State is receiving a guaranteed payment of about $200,000 to make the two-hour drive and play next week. In today’s market that is a steal.
Division I-AA Appalachian State got $400,000 to play at Michigan (and beat the Wolverines) last season. App State is getting $550,000 to open the season at LSU. Sun Belt conference teams are getting as much as $1 million from SEC schools for a single game.
“In future contracts we’re going to have to get a bump,” said Crowe.
Jacksonville State is supposed to come back to Georgia Tech again in 2009. But if the school gets a better offer from an SEC school, don’t be surprised if it tries to buy its way out of the deal.
2. Crowe asked Richt for advice: Crowe, a former assistant at Auburn and Clemson and (briefly) the head coach at Arkansas, has been head coach at Jacksonville State since 2000 and won the Ohio Valley conference championship in 2003 and 2004. But after three straight seasons at 6-5 he saw the program slipping. The problem, as he saw it, was in leadership.
“I just thought there was something missing,” he said. “We were losing close games because we just didn’t have the leadership that a program should have. And as coaches we weren’t developing leadership.”
So Crowe consulted two coaches he believed excelled when it came to teaching leadership: Mark Richt of Georgia and Mack Brown of Texas.
“We adopted a lot of their principles and we immediately have been able to tell a difference,” Crowe said.
3. There will be two No. 11s against Tech: When Perrilloux arrived in May, No. 11 had already been given to freshman quarterback Marques Ivory from Warner Robins. Marques had made it very clear during his recruitment that he wanted to wear No. 11.
Perrilloux wore No. 11 at LSU and has been wearing the number since junior high football and basketball.
“I was pretty attached to my number,” Perrilloux said.
So Crowe decided that both players would wear No. 11 this season.
“Maybe we’ll play both of them and no one will notice the difference,” Crowe said.
Doubtful. Perrilloux (6-3, 235) kind of stands out in a crowd.
4. Ivory will get on the field against Tech: Ivory has the distinction of never having lost a game that he started as a quarterback. He was 30-0 and led Northside High School to back-to-back state championships in 2006 and 2007.
There are only three quarterbacks on scholarship at Jacksonville State: Perrilloux, Ivory, and Brooks Robinson, another freshman. Crowe plans to get Ivory (6-1, 235) on the field against Georgia Tech.
“I like to work my backup into the game about the third series so that he’s not under time pressure,” Crowe said. “Ivory is a good athlete and we’re excited about what he can do.”
Understand this. When Perrilloux agreed to come to Jacksonville State, there was not a scholarship quarterback on campus. Crowe had kicked his projected starter off the team. So Perrilloux came here knowing he was the starter from day one. That, as we will explain in next week’s story, is a big reason why he is here.
5. Crowe worried about Tech DL: When the discussion came to the Georgia Tech game, Crowe spent a lot of time praising the Yellow Jackets’ defensive line.
“If they are not the best defensive line the country, I’d be afraid of who is,” said Crowe.
We talked about Tech’s two great tackles, Vance Walker and Darryl Richard, and end Michael Johnson, who a lot of people believe is going to have a huge season.
“And people are telling me the young guy (sophomore end Derrick Morgan) is a really good young talent,” Crowe said.
Crowe is concerned because the youngest part of his team is the offensive line.
“I wish we were a little older up front, especially going against those guys at Tech,” he said.
A few bonus nuggets about Jacksonville State:
• Despite the youth on the offensive line, Crowe says this is the most talented team that he’s had at Jacksonville State. “I don’t want people to get the wrong idea about us,” Crowe said. “We respect Georgia Tech but we won’t be intimidated from a talent standpoint.”
• Jacksonville State, located about 20 minutes north of Anniston, is the only school in the history of the NCAA to have national championships in football, basketball and baseball. Only six other NCAA schools have won championships in football and basketball (Michigan, Michigan State, Florida, Ohio State, North Alabama and Wittenberg).
• Remember Ashley Martin? The native of Sharpsburg, Ga., was the first female in history to score a point in an NCAA football game. She kicked a couple of extra points for Jax State in a 72-10 win over Cumberland on Aug. 30, 2001.
• Randy Owen, the lead singer for the country music group ALABAMA, is a JSU grad and a member of the school’s Board of Trustees.
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Does Florida have Georgia on their minds?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
With less than two weeks to go before the start of the season, things are starting to get really serious around the camps.
1. Does Florida have Georgia on their minds?: It sure seems that way. At least that is what Cameron Newton, Florida’s backup quarterback, told me. Newton, from College Park (Westlake H.S.) has a lot of friends on the Georgia team.
“Man, they (Georgia) have opened something up,” Newton said, obviously referring to last year’s en masse charge of the end zone by the Georgia team. “It’s going to be a fun game this year. I know coach (Urban) Meyer wants it bad. And our players want it bad. They are predicting that it’s going to be the game of the year.”
Only 74 days until the World’s Largest……Oops. Sorry. Old habits are hard to break.
Only 74 days until the Georgia-Florida game. Has there ever been a game in this series that has been more anticipated than this one?
Speaking of the game. It’s not official but you can mark this down. The game will be at 3:30 p.m. and it will be shown by CBS.
2. Arizona State not thinking about Georgia—yet: I talked to Arizona State coach Dennis Erickson last night for a story that I’m doing on his quarterback, Rudy Carpenter. I mentioned to Erickson, who won two national championships at Miami, that a lot of Georgia people were getting excited about the Bulldogs’ trip to Tempe on Sept. 20.
“That’s unfortunate,” Erickson said with a laugh. “It’s bad enough that they’re bringing the No. 1 team here. They are going to bring a crowd, too?”
Erickson mentioned that Arizona State is in the same boat as Georgia in this regard: Both teams have to play a big conference game before they meet on Sept. 20. Georgia goes to South Carolina the week before and Arizona State plays Stanford at home on Sept. 6. Stanford upset Southern Cal 24-23 last season.
“The guy at Stanford (Jim Harbaugh) has done a really good job,” Erickson said. “And (South Carolina coach) Steve (Spurrier) is pretty tough at home. We both have a lot of work to do before we play.”
3. Why Cody is important to Alabama: There was a note in this morning’s print edition about Terrence Cody, the massive (6-5, 380 pound) JUCO transfer at Alabama. Here is why Cody is significant to Alabama’s hopes in 2008.
In order for his 3-4 defense to be truly effective, Nick Saban needs a huge space eater at nose tackle to occupy blockers. Loganville’s Lorenzo Washington is a good, veteran player at that position but on the small side. Although it’s hard to imagine that anybody who is 6-4, 283 pounds is considered small.
When I went to practice in Tuscaloosa earlier this summer, the coaches told me that they expected Cody to make an impact. He’s a great athlete for his size. And he can stuff the run. No doubt about that. The questions are about his stamina and whether or not he can also play on passing downs.
But if Alabama can rotate Cody and Washington, and if freshman linebacker Jerrell Harris is as good as he appears to be, the Crimson Tide defense will get better in a hurry.
Let’s put it this way. Clemson’s big question mark is the offensive line. Cody will give them something equally big to think about.
4. When in doubt, simplify the offense: In today’s modern offenses, quarterbacks have a lot to think about BEFORE they run a play. Some guys, like Peyton Manning, process this information like a computer. Other guys have a tough time keeping track of all that information AND executing the play. So the head coach steps in and simplifies the offense.
This is definitely happening at Alabama and South Carolina this summer.
Anybody who has watched Alabama for any length of time knows that John Parker Wilson is a rhythm passer. When he gets into rhythm he’ll make a bunch of good throws in a row. Get him off rhythm and the throws tend to sail and he tends to make mistakes.
New OC Jim McElwain has come up with a more quarterback friendly approach that gives Wilson fewer pre-snap reads and makes the post-snap reads more simple.
“I like the way John Parker has responded to this,” Saban told me. “We want him to feel more comfortable and this is a good way to do it.”
Spurrier is doing the same with Tommy Beecher. Spurrier’s offense demands a lot of a quarterback. Spurrier demands a lot of his quarterbacks as well. When I met with him recently Spurrier conceded that he was probably asking Beecher to do too much.
“Tommy can make all the throws but we probably need to cut things down a little bit,” Spurrier said.
5. UCLA names Craft starting QB: Tennessee now knows that the much-traveled Kevin Craft will be the UCLA’s starting quarterback when the Vols go West to play on Sept. 1.
Craft played in nine games (starting five) as a redshirt freshman at San Diego State in 2006. He stayed despite the fact that his father, Tom, was fired as the Aztecs’ head coach after the 2005 season. When Tom Craft landed the job as offensive coordinator at Mt. San Antonio Junior College in Walnut, Calif., the son transferred. Last season Kevin Craft threw for 4,231 yards and 44 touchdowns last season. His team won the Southern California Junior College Championship. By the spring semester he was enrolled at UCLA and now, due to injuries to the first two quarterbacks, he’ll take the first snap against Tennessee at the Rose Bowl.
Good for him. Now it’s time to play big boy football. Tennessee’s defensive front may not be the best in the SEC, but I’m pretty sure Kevin never saw anybody like Demonte Bolden (6-6, 290) in his California junior college league.
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Georgia’s consensus No. 1. So now what?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Earlier this year I told Georgia coach Mark Richt that there was a bright side to his 2008 schedule. He was all ears to hear what the smarty pants media guy had to say about that.
The bright side is this: If Georgia goes 13-0 against what I believe is the toughest schedule in school history, the Bulldogs WILL be in the BCS championship game at Dolphins Stadium on Jan. 8. Remember that Auburn started the 2004 season at No. 17 when it got squeezed out at 12-0.
Now that Georgia is No. 1 in both major polls (AP, Coaches), the Bulldogs know they are a lock for South Florida if they run the table. Frankly, if Georgia is 12-1 with an SEC championship on Dec. 6, it should STILL be in the big game. But that is another discussion for another day.
Once the consensus No. 1 target is placed squarely on a team’s back, there are all kinds of unexpected obstacles that pop up. If you’re a Georgia fan, here are five potential hurdles you may not have considered:
1. History is not on Georgia’s side: Since the Associated Press starting doing preseason polls in 1950, only two teams that started No. 1 have stayed in that spot for an entire season and won the national championship.
Florida State’s 1999 team, led by Chris Weinke, started No. 1 and won them all, beating Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl for the BCS championship. This was the only undefeated team that Bobby Bowden has ever had. The Seminoles also had to survive three close games with Georgia Tech (41-35), Clemson (17-14), and Florida (30-23) just to get to the BCS championship game.
Southern Cal, which had won the AP national championship in 2003, started at No. 1 in 2004. And as good as that team was with QB Matt Leinart (2004 Hesiman winner) and RB Reggie Bush (2005 Heisman winner), it had to survive several close calls just to get to the BCS championship against Oklahoma. The Trojans beat Stanford by three (31-28), California by six (23-17), and UCLA by five (29-24). They fell behind 13-0 at Oregon State but rallied to win 28-20.
The point is that for even the great teams, going wire-to-wire is incredibly difficult. You have be good AND a little lucky.
2. Dan LeFevour: Georgia fans are talking about the opener with Georgia Southern on Aug. 30. Then they are talking about the all-important trip to South Carolina on Sept. 13. But waiting in the middle on Sept. 6 is a game with Central Michigan, the two-time defending MAC champions.
About right now a bunch of you are snickering and saying: “Barnhart, please! Get a grip! It’s just the MAC!”
But consider this: Remember how Troy and QB Omar Haugabook came to Sanford Stadium and rolled up 488 total yards last season? Haugabook had 310 yards passing against a very good Georgia defense. Georgia needed four turnovers to pull away and win 44-34.
LeFevour is better than Haugabook. Last season he became only the second player in Division I-A history to pass for over 3,000 yards and rush for over 1,000 yards. He had 4,774 yards of total offense. By contrast Tim Tebow, the Heisman Trophy winner, had 4,184 yards of total offense (3,286 passing, 895 running).
I know. The competition level is much different. But a hot quarterback can be a great equalizer (see Armanti Edwards, Appalachian State vs. Michigan).
3. Arizona’s “dry” heat: I talked to Arizona State quarterback Rudy Carpenter the other day. My first question was about the weather.
“Oh, we got a little cool snap today,” he said. “It only got to 107.”
Southern teams assume they can handle all kinds of heat because hey, they practice in some of the steamiest conditions around. And Arizona does not have the humidity of the deep South. It’s a “dry” heat.
But it’s one thing to play at home in the heat and yet another to fly across the country and play in hostile conditions like the kind Georgia will face at Arizona State on Sept. 20.
The long-range forecast calls for a high of 98 degrees in Phoenix on Sept. 20 and with a kickoff of 5 p.m. (local time), the temperature at game time won’t be far from that. It could be hotter. The projected high for Sept. 6 is 102 degrees. The projected high for Sept. 13, the week before the game, is right at 100.
If Georgia falls behind early the temperature will go up several degrees in Sun Devil Stadium. It’s just something to think about.
4. Tony Franklin’s spread: When Troy came to Sanford Stadium and rolled up those 488 yards of total offense, Franklin was the offensive coordinator calling the plays. When Auburn hosts Georgia on Nov. 15, Franklin will again be calling the plays as the Tigers’ new OC.
Troy turned the ball over four times in that game, including an interception by Haugabook at the Georgia 11-yard line. Georgia led 27-20 in the third quarter when Marcus Howard knocked the ball from Haugabook’s grasp and ran it down to the one-yard line.
“We are right there until that play,” Franklin told me. “We proved we can move the ball but you just can’t turn it over.”
The Georgia game will be Auburn’s 11th in the new spread offense this season and 12th dating back to the Chick-fil-A Bowl against Clemson. The Tigers should have it down pat by then.
5. Kirston Pittman, Tyson Jackson: Both of these guys should be in the NFL right now. Instead they will give LSU the best pair of defensive ends in college football. Pittman missed two complete seasons (2005, 2006) due to injuries. He was a freshman on LSU’s 2003 national championship team and a senior on the 2007 national championship team. He applied for a sixth-year of eligibility and he got it. Last season he led the Tigers in sacks (8.0) and tackles for loss (13.0).
Jackson is a fifth-year senior with 26 starts and probably has the best speed off the edge of any player in the SEC.
With DT Ricky Jean-Francois clogging up the middle, LSU will send these guys after Georgia QB Matt Stafford early and often on Oct. 25. Stafford will be without his security blanket in left tackle Trinton Sturdivant.
Even if Georgia wins in Baton Rouge, if Stafford gets beat up in this game it could effect his play the following week against Florida in Jacksonville.
A final personal note: Some good news this morning. A number of you have written very kind notes about the upcoming change in my working relationship with the AJC. That change will still take place in late September. But I want you to know that we’ve come to an agreement to continue the Mr. College Football blog through the 2008 season. That’s a tribute to you. Together we have built this blog into something that is really fun and (hopefully) very readable. I’m excited about this new development and appreciative for the opportunity to continue Mr. CFB for one more season. Thanks again for all your support.
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What the SEC/CBS deal really means
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Nobody asked me, but this morning I believe:
1. The CBS deal seals Mike Slive’s legacy as SEC commissioner: Slive took over in 2002 and has received high marks for helping the league clean up its image. He set the goal of having no teams on NCAA probation in five years. People were skeptical, and rightfully so. After six years only one SEC sport (Arkansas track) is still on probation. Given the competition in this league and the contact sport that is recruiting, that’s a very notable achievement.
But understand commissioners are also judged on their ability to put their conferences on sound financial footing not just now, but long after they are gone.
With Thursday’s unprecedented 15-year deal with CBS, that runs through the 2023 season, and the deals that will follow from ESPN and others, this conference proved once and for all that it is “the gold standard of college athletics” as CBS VP Mike Aresco put it.
I spoke to Slive again last night. You could hear him smiling through the phone. “We’ve got some work left to do but this is big for our conference,” he said. “But this is very important step for the Southeastern Conference. We are all very happy.”
You need to know about two other people who were heavily involved in getting this deal done. Mark Womack is Slive’s top assistant and should be the SEC commissioner when Slive retires. Chuck Gerber is a former ESPN executive who came on board this year as a consultant to help the SEC put the deal together. That’s how important it was.
Roy Kramer put the SEC on this kind of financial footing when he was commissioner from 1990-2001. Kramer was the driving force behind the BCS and the explosion of college football on TV. When Kramer took over the SEC in 1990, the league was sharing $16 million in revenue each year. Last spring the 12 SEC members shared $127 million.
Kramer brought the SEC into the modern age and now Slive has taken the baton and advanced it for another generation.
2. There will not be an SEC TV network: When I talked to Slive Thursday night he insisted that all options “are still on the table” when it comes to the possibility of the league forming its own TV network like the Big Ten.
I have no inside information but I don’t believe it will happen for one reason: The SEC doesn’t need it now.
The league obviously got the deal it wanted from CBS, giving them an exclusive national broadcast for the next 15 years. ESPN loves putting the SEC in prime time and will step up to the plate. I’m hearing ESPN would like to own the rest of the SEC’s TV rights and then be able to sell what they don’t need back to folks like Raycom, who will do the 12:30 p.m. games. To do that, ESPN would have to pay a premium. Keep your eye on that one.
The SEC has studied the distribution nightmares experienced by the Big Ten, where only 33 percent of the league’s TV sets were covered when it went to market. The SEC can’t do that.
I was joking recently when I told a Big Ten person that the distribution problems that his league had would not be tolerated in the SEC. It’s a totally different football culture.
I said: “If Illinois-Michigan is not on free TV, then your office gets a lot of nasty phone calls. If Alabama-Tennessee is not on down here, somebody’s house is going to get burned down.”
No really, I was kidding. Kind of.
Slive told me he wants to get the rest of the TV deals done in the next 20 days.
3. Forbes got it right: This week Alabama coach Nick Saban became the first college football coach to ever appear on the cover of Forbes Magazine. The headline on the cover read: “Sports’ Most Powerful Coach.” The magazine picked Saban because of his total control over every aspect of the football program at Alabama.
I agree. You can argue over who is the BEST coach in the SEC. But based on my experience there is no coach I know whose fingerprints are on every moving part of a football program the way Saban’s are at Alabama. And while that may not necessarily be a good thing at other places, at this point in Alabama’s history it is absolutely essential.
For too long there were way too many voices speaking for Alabama football. Since the death of Bear Bryant in 1983 nobody, except Gene Stallings, seemed to have complete control over the program. And as a result Alabama could not sustain the legacy left by Bryant.
There is no doubt about who is in charge at Alabama. That’s why the Crimson Tide will be good again sooner rather than later.
4. There will never be another “Hoss” Brock: Ninety-nine percent of you have never heard of Jim “Hoss” Brock, the long-time executive director of the Cotton Bowl. But I wish you had known him.
Hoss was a colorful throwback to the days when bowl deals were struck in smoke-filled rooms and a bowl executive director wasn’t a businessman, he was promoter and usually a PR genius. That was Hoss. The story of how he got Doug Flutie and Boston College for the 1985 Cotton Bowl was the stuff of legend. All of his competitors were trying to land Flutie for New Year’s Day and he found a way to get the deal done when nobody was looking. It was a crazier time and so unlike the corporate structure of the bowl business today. But it sure was fun.
Hoss Brock died yesterday at the age of 74. Those of us who have been in this business for any length of time grieve his loss and that of Dave Cawood, the long time director of the NCAA Men’s Final Four. We lost Dave in July.
The college athletics landscape that you enjoy today was built by guys like Hoss Brock and Dave Cawood. We will miss them.
5. Ben Mauk’s lawsuit does not have a chance: The former Wake Forest quarterback, who played last season at Cincinnati, is suing the NCAA to get a sixth year of eligibility. Mauk redshirted in 2003 as a freshman at Wake Forest. He played in 2004 and 2005. In 2006 he suffered a severe shoulder injury in the opening game and missed the entire season. He transferred to Cincinnati and played the 2007 season. That’s five years, which is the standard amount of time a player has to complete his four years of eligibility. The NCAA will give a sixth year if injuries force a player to miss two full seasons.
Mauk has had three hearings with the NCAA, which says there is not enough documentation to prove that Mauk missed his freshman season due to injury. Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe has written several letters to support Mauk’s case but the NCAA still says no.
The NCAA really digs in its heels on these eligibility cases. Despite an injunction against the NCAA, Cincinnati won’t use Mauk until the issue is resolved.
I personally believe Mauk deserves another year. But I don’t think he’ll get it.
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How huge is UGA’s loss of Sturdivant?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
This is hard to believe, but two weeks from tonight we will play the first games of the 2008 season. And because the injury bug has bitten frequently in the last seven days, there are some things that need to get resolved in a hurry.
Here are just a few of the burning questions that need to get answered in the next 14 days.
1. How huge will the loss of Trinton Sturdivant be for Georgia? I think it’s really huge but managing these kind of things is what coaches are paid to do and why recruiting for depth is so important. If this injury happens on an SEC team with serious depth issues, it could be devastating. But, as Chip Towers pointed out, over the past few seasons Georgia has made recruiting offensive linemen a priority. This is where that decision should pay off.
Georgia will put another really good player into that left tackle spot. But I also know this: There is a reason that Sturdivant has been holding down the left tackle spot pretty much since the day he walked onto campus. He was the best lineman Georgia had. The Bulldogs will still be good at that position. But they can’t be AS good. On such subtle distinctions championships are sometimes won or lost in the SEC. Only time will tell.
And here is the other question. Do you move right tackle Kiante Tripp, over to the left side? Some coaches say no because now you’re putting new players at TWO different positions, creating more disruption on the offensive line. Other coaches say you have to put the best player possible at left tackle because he protects the blind side of your quarterback.
And keep this in mind if you’re a Georgia fan. Under new defensive coordinator Ellis Johnson, South Carolina is working on different ways to take advantage of the skills of its best pass rusher, Eric Norwood. Norwood has moved to outside linebacker but Johnson told me that Norwood would continue to put pressure on quarterbacks because he does it so well. Georgia will see a lot of Norwood when the Bulldogs go to Columbia on Sept. 13.
2. Will Mitch Mustain be the guy at Southern Cal? USC quarterback Mark Sanchez dislocated his left kneecap in practice last Friday. Sanchez said he hopes to be back for the opener at Virginia on Aug. 30.
This opens the door for Mustain, who won eight games as a true freshman at Arkansas in 2006 but transferred after a serious falling out with Houston Nutt and the Razorback coaching staff.
A lot of people have questioned whether or not all the drama surrounding Mustain’s transfer was really necessary. I know because I was one of them. But there were a lot of people in Arkansas who are convinced that Nutt completely mishandled the entire Mitch Mustain situation and forced a great player to go elsewhere. The fallout on all sides was considerable and the hurt feelings are still significant.
It would be sweet redemption for Mustain if he were able to take over the USC offense and have some success. And it sure would make a lot of Arkansas fans ever madder to see Mustain playing pitch and catch in a Southern Cal uniform on national television against Ohio State on Sept. 13. This will be fun to watch.
3. Will Tennessee have a cakewalk at UCLA? Last spring Patrick Cowan, projected to be UCLA’s starting quarterback, injured his knee and was lost for the season. On Tuesday Ben Olson, his backup, had surgery to repair a broken right foot. Now the Bruins and Rick Neuheisel are down to junior college transfer Kevin Craft and redshirt freshman Chris Forcier.
One of those guys is going to have to take the first snap against Tennessee on Sept. 1 at the Rose Bowl.
Any time a team has to fly out to the West Coast to play it is not easy. But this injury increases the possibility that Tennessee won’t have to fight tooth and nail to get out of Pasadena with a win. Understand that the first three weeks (UCLA, off week on Sept. 6, UAB on Sept. 13) for Tennessee are about getting ready to host Florida on Sept. 20 and then go tot Auburn on Sept. 27.
The injuries at UCLA could make that process a little easier. Or not.
4. Who is going to be Auburn’s starting quarterback?: OC Tony Franklin told me that at some point he would name a starting quarterback-either sophomore Kodi Burns or JUCO transfer Chris Todd. That decision is coming soon.
Burns got more work in the new offense during spring practice because Todd had a dead arm. But Todd knows the offense inside and out because he’s been running some version of it for most of his football life.
My money is on Burns, who has made great strides as a passer since the end of last spring.
“At first I wasn’t sure if Kodi could throw the ball well enough to run our offense but then I saw his high school tape. He was a very good passer but something happened after he got here,” Franklin said. “It wasn’t anybody’s fault. But these things just happen.”
Burns also has the ability to plant his foot and make defenders miss, which is very important in this offense. Todd will play a lot because he’s very talented. The fact is that if you run the spread offense, you have to have two quarterbacks ready to go at all times.
5. Will Josh Jarboe make the most of his third (and probably final) chance at Troy?
I think so. Jarboe was released at Oklahoma when it was discovered that he had made a short video with references to gun violence. This was after he had been kicked out of high school for bringing a gun onto school property.
Now he lands at Troy, which could be the best possible move for him. Troy has a very competitive program on the rise, but it is not in the white-hot spotlight of a place like Oklahoma or the SEC. He’ll get a chance to develop as a player and a person.
Ryan Perrilloux got a second chance at Jacksonville State and Jarboe deserves this third chance at Troy.
But at the risk of sounding like a dad, here is a piece of advice to the young man: If football is really important to you then you’ll simplify your life. Concentrate on football and going to school. That’s it. This is your last chance.
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Oklahoma had no choice on Jarboe
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
On Tuesday our Drew Jubera did a marvelous job of reporting and telling the story of Josh Jarboe, the former Oklahoma player from Ellenwood. Jarboe was released from the OU program after a cellphone video that contained a number of violent references and a string of profanities made its way to YouTube.
Drew interviewed a number of people who spoke to the fundamental goodness of the kid. I have no reason to doubt their sincerity. I have not met Josh Jarboe. He may be a wonderful kid. The claim is that he was just doing what kids his age do and became a victim of today’s technology. In short, he engaged in behavior that, in another time, would never have seen the light of day.
But I also know when it comes to something like this the fact that Jarboe may be a good person is pretty irrelevant.
Here are the facts:
Jarboe was expelled from high school for bringing a weapon onto the Cedar Grove campus. When approached by authorities he tried to hide the weapon. He had to take online classes to get his high school diploma.
Oklahoma stuck with Jarboe after this incident. Based on their research he was a good kid who made a bad decision. Teenagers make bad decisions all the time. That was a reasonable position to take.
But when Jarboe’s 74-second video hit cyberspace, the entire dynamic changed. Now Oklahoma had a kid who, after almost losing everything because of the gun charge, makes a video that makes references to AK-47s and shooting people in the head.
Head coach Bob Stoops at first supported Jarboe, feeling that what he did was a private event that never should have gone public. But Stoops must know what his players already know: Everything video, sooner or later, makes it way to the internet.
Here is the harsh reality of this situation. This is really not about Jarboe or some kind of clash of cultures or a generational misunderstanding.
This is about the fact that in April of 2007 a crazed student walked into a Virginia Tech classroom building and murdered 32 people. It’s about the fact that there were some signs that the killer at Virginia Tech was prone to violence. But nobody picked up on those signs until it was too late.
What if Oklahoma, knowing Jarboe’s background, had just let the video incident slide? Now consider the unthinkable. What if the ultimate horror story takes place and someone’s child is killed at Oklahoma with Jarboe holding the gun?
Understand that there is no evidence that Jarboe has any tendency towards violence. By all accounts, he is just a normal, talented kid looking for an outlet for his creativity. But again, what kind of person Jarboe is becomes irrelevant in this kind of discussion.
If you run a major university, you simply can’t afford think of the individual in a situation that has this set of facts You have to think in terms of the worst possible scenario and what the liability to the institution would be if it happened. In the context of the massacre at Virginia Tech, Oklahoma had no choice. They had to let Jarboe go.
If we must teach our children anything, it is that they do not live or make their decisions in a vacuum. Every word, every deed is put into the context of the world around them. If you are a football player at a major university, that goes double. Is that fair? Nope. But it’s reality.
Josh Jarboe had to learn that lesson the hard way. Hopefully the lesson he learned and the price he paid won’t be lost on others.
Am I wrong about this? Was what this kid did just harmless fun? Are the adults overreacting here?
You tell me.
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Five Questions for the Head Ball Coach
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Columbia, S.C.-On Monday I sat down with South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier and tried to take his temperature on several issues: The state of the program, what he expects for this season, and what in the wide, wide world of sports happened to his team last season?
In 2007 South Carolina started 6-1 and was ranked as high as No. 7 before losing its last five games to finish 6-6. There were two bone-crushing losses among those five:
**—At Tennessee on Oct. 27, South Carolina rallied from a 21-0 deficit to take a 24-21 lead with 1:24 left. But the Vols kicked a field goal the buzzer to tie game and then won in overtime, 27-24.
**—Clemson kicked a 35-yard field goal as time expired to beat South Carolina 23-21 in Columbia on Nov. 24.
In three seasons here Spurrier is 21-16 and 11-13 in the SEC. You can’t measure how badly he wants to do something special here at South Carolina. Consider: He was the last coach to win an ACC championship at Duke (1989). When he got to Florida in 1990 the Gators had never won an SEC championship. He won six. South Carolina has never played in the SEC championship game. At 63, winning a divisional title and getting to Atlanta would be the perfect ending to his Hall of Fame career.
So here are five quick questions for the Head Ball Coach:
1. This time last year you talked about competing for an SEC championship. How do you feel this year?
“We’re just trying not to talk too much and realize that we’re not that great. But if we go all out and play a lot smarter and with a lot more effort, then we have a chance. We lost some tough games late to Tennessee and Clemson and one or two plays could have made a difference. We could have been 8-4 instead of 6-6. We just needed to play a little better and coach a little better.
“But shoot, we could have lost some of those early ones too. So we don’t need to sit around and say we had a great team but we were unlucky. We didn’t have a great team. We were No. 8 (in the SEC) in total offense and No. 9 in total defense. That’s not very good.
“But it wasn’t all bad. Last year we did something no South Carolina team has ever done. We beat three teams that won their bowl games-Georgia, Kentucky, and Mississippi State.”
2. There has been talk that you’re starting to get frustrated here at South Carolina. Any truth to that? Do you still believe you can win an SEC championship here?
“I’m still having fun. Our goal is always to win the SEC championship and that is not going to change. But we know we’re not there yet. In three years we’ve (only) had five guys drafted: three defensive backs, a running back, and a wide receiver. But our best recruiting class was two years ago. One service had it ranked as high as No. 4. There were 27 of them and they’re still here. They haven’t flunked out or fallen by the wayside like some classes do. We think that the next 3-4 years if we keep recruiting well that we have a chance to do some stuff.”
3. You said you are going to turn parts of the offensive game planning over to Steve Spurrier, Jr. How is that going to work on game day?
“I’m trying to delegate more this year than I have in the past and hopefully that will free me up to look at the big picture of the program. I still oversee the offense but Steve, Jr. will do the scripts in practice and handle some of the play calling. In the scrimmage the other day he sent the plays in but I’m on the headphones telling him ‘don’t forget this one and that one.’ It actually gives me a chance to pick the spots and try to hit some big plays. It’s something different. We’ll see if it helps us. I hope it’s going to make us more organized so that we can get the plays in quicker.
4. With 10 starters returning, plus linebacker Jasper Brinkley coming back from injury, people are saying that this might be the best defense you’ve had at South Carolina. Do you agree?
“Well, I hope (the defense) is better but we’ve said that every year that we’ve been here. People have said that we’re going to be good-blah, blah, blah. All I know is that we’ve finished 10th, ninth, and ninth (in the SEC) the three years that we’ve been here. Most defensive coordinators would tell you that if I’m 10th, ninth, and ninth chances are the head coach is going to be looking for someone else.
“We’ve got Ellis Johnson coming in (as defensive coordinator). He’s got a track record. I think we’ll be more disciplined and play better and play with more effort. But now we’ve got to go out and do it. We do have some players who are capable.”
5. You are trying to build a program and win a championship in what some believe is the toughest division in the toughest conference in football. Did you ever think it would be this difficult?
“When I got here Florida, Georgia and Tennessee were the big three and they are still the big three. We’ve made some inroads against them. We’ve beaten each of them once and lost a heartbreaker to each of them once. So we could be 2-1 against them but instead we are 1-2 against them.
“But when I came here I said that we had everything we needed to win a championship at South Carolina. I still believe that. I’m not coaching just to have a winning record and go to a bowl game every year. One day, one year, when we win the close ones and the ball bounces our way we’re going to have that big year.”
SPURRIER AGAINST GEORGIA, FLORIDA, AND TENNESSEE
2005: L Georgia, 17-15; B Tennessee, 16-15; B Florida, 30-22
2006: L Georgia, 18-0; L Tennessee, 31-24; L Florida 17-16
2007: B Georgia, 16-12; L Tennessee 27-24 (OT); L Florida 51-31
BONUS QUESTION
You named Tommy Beecher as your starting quarterback going into the summer. Can he give you what you need at the position?
“I like coaching Tommy Beecher. He’s a smart kid, a good leader. He goes to all of the workouts and everything. He’s a good student. I think all of the players will rally around him and he can take us a long way. But the truth is that since we’ve been here our offense has not played the way it is capable of playing. Beecher can make all of the throws and he can move around a little bit. He’s going into his fourth year here. He’s been to all of the practices and all of the games. Now it is his turn.”
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Is this FINALLY the year at Clemson?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Clemson, S.C.-Expectations at Clemson are always great. But when I got here last Friday I found that anticipation for the 2008 season has gone off the charts.
Clemson has not won an ACC championship since 1991 but it appears that all of the pieces are in place for the Tigers to finally hang another banner in Memorial Stadium at the end of this season.
We’ll find out early if Clemson is the real deal as the Tigers open the season on Aug. 30 against Alabama in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff at the Georgia Dome.
Later on this month we’ll do a story on running back James Davis, the Atlanta native who decided to return to school in an effort win a championship. I had a good visit on Friday with Davis and his running mate, C.J. Spiller, who may be the best tailback combo in all of college football.
But for now I wanted to share a few nuggets of information that I picked up while hanging around the coaches offices.
1. Why is Clemson playing Alabama?: When I met with Alabama coach Nick Saban, he was very candid about why he agreed to play Clemson in the opener. He has a very young team and he wants to throw them in the deep end of the pool to start the season. They will have to grow up faster.
But why is Clemson, the ACC favorite, willing to play a high stakes game like this right out of the box?
Tommy Bowden was just as candid.
“Recruiting,” said Bowden, as he relaxed in his office after a long jog. “Last year when we opened the season with Florida State (on Labor Day night) we got a really good response from recruits. This is the game that a lot of 17-year-olds are going to watch. We plan to win the game but even if you lose, it’s so early that you can play your way back into position. And since we didn’t lose a home game (Clemson still has seven), it just made sense to me.”
2. C.J. knows Alabama: In 2006 Clemson had an open date on Nov. 18. Running back C.J. Spiller used the week off to attend the Alabama-Auburn game in Tuscaloosa. Based on that experience Spiller says he knows what to expect on Aug. 30 at the Georgia Dome.
“Man, those people are serious about their football,” said Spiller, who has averaged 6.2 yards per carry in his first two seasons at Clemson. “It was just incredibly loud and intense the whole game. We are going to have to match their intensity.”
Auburn won the game 22-15 at Bryant-Denny Stadium, for the Tigers’ fifth straight victory over Alabama. That streak is now at six.
“I know this,” Spiller said. “Those (Alabama) people do not like to lose.”
Spiller is looking forward to being reunited with his old running backs coach, Burton Burns, who is in his second season at Alabama.
3. Clemson almost lost Jamie Harper: After another 1,000-yard season in 2007 Davis declared his intention to enter the 2008 NFL Draft. But at the 11th hour, Davis changed his mind and decided to come back and play his senior season. That was the good news.
The (almost) bad news was that Jacksonville’s Jamie Harper, one of the nation’s top running back prospects, almost broke his Clemson commitment when he heard that Davis was coming back. Harper took a strong look at Illinois, where top RB Rashard Mendenhall had left early and turned pro.
“Yeah, Jamie Harper almost flew the coop,” Bowden said. “We were certainly thrilled to have James back but we had to hustle to keep Jamie in the fold.”
Clemson did have an ace in the hole. Daniel Andrews, Harper’s teammate and very close friend at Trinity Christian, was also set to sign with Clemson.
So Harper stuck with Clemson and, despite the return of Davis and Spiller, the plan is to give him significant playing time as a true freshman.
“We have two great freshman running backs (Harper and Andre Ellington) to go along with the two great ones (Spiller, Davis) we have coming back,” Bowden said. “All four of those guys are going to play.”
4. The O-Line is still unsettled: The biggest unknown at Clemson is whether or not the offensive line is going to jell in time to play Alabama. Offensive coordinator Rob Spence has to replace four starters and when I met with him last Friday, a first unit had not been determined.
“You hear coaches talk a lot about potential but what matters is performance,” Spence said. “I’m excited about a really athletic group of young players. We’re going to make mistakes. But there is talent with a high level of character and work ethic. That makes me believe that something special is going to happen with this group.”
Bowden says there is talent on the offensive line.
“But they have to grow up in the first game against Nick Saban’s defense,” Bowden said. “It would be different if we were playing Alabama in the third game. We’re not.”
Here is an interesting stat courtesy of Tim Bourret, Clemson’s great sports information director: Since 1965 Clemson has had 13 seasons in which it had to replace four offensive linemen. In those 13 seasons Clemson was a combined 79-66-4.
5. Jacoby Ford the X-Factor: Everybody knows about Spiller and Davis. Everybody knows about quarterback Cullen Harper, the Alpharetta native who threw 27 touchdowns and only six interceptions in 2007. Everybody knows about Marietta’s Aaron Kelly, who had 88 catches last season and could become the ACC’s all-time leading receiver this season.
What nobody knows right now is the impact Jacoby Ford will have this season. Ford (5-10, 185) has world-class speed. He is a track All-American who won the ACC 60 meters (indoors) championship (6.52).
Ford broke his ankle in the eighth game against Maryland and missed the rest of the season. But he came back last spring to run a 10.21 in the 100-meter dash in the NCAA East Regionals.
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Win or lose, does Bama benefit from playing Clemson?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Okay. Everybody’s in camp and we’ve made the first round of our stops around the South. We’ve learned a lot in our travels. But what do we still not know?
1. Win or lose, does Alabama benefit from playing Clemson? Obviously, Alabama wants to beat Clemson in the season opener at the Georgia Dome on Aug. 30. Clemson, the ACC preseason favorite, will be picked to win against the Crimson Tide, which is projected third in the SEC West.
But the benefit from games like this goes far beyond just winning and losing, Alabama coach Nick Saban said when I met with him in Tuscaloosa.
Alabama will put a lot of young players on the field and Saban believes in throwing his rookies into the fire. A full house at the Dome should do the trick.
“We need to establish an identity with this team as soon as possible,” Saban said. “Games like this immediately show your players how much they need to improve or can improve. It also helps you prepare to play the better teams in our league. We will learn a lot about our team very quickly.”
Saban pointed out that when he was at Michigan State the Spartans usually played Notre Dame in the first month of the season.
“It just thought it was a good thing instead of a bad thing because it told us what we needed to do to beat good teams,” Saban said. “Maybe you go 7-4 instead of 8-3 because of it, but if the goal is to be a national program, you have to play games like that.”
Vince Dooley once told me that the benefit to playing a good team early is that when the game is over, you don’t any illusions about your team. Three weeks later Alabama opens the SEC schedule at Arkansas. The Clemson game helps Alabama get ready for the trip to Fayetteville.
2. Who’s going to back up Tim Tebow? On paper sophomore Cameron Newton of College Park and red-shirt freshman John Brantley are competing for the job of No. 2 quarterback behind Tebow, the Heisman Trophy winner. Newton, who is an impressive physical specimen at 6-5, 246, played sparingly as a freshman. The highly recruited Brantley sat out last season as a red-shirt and was limited in the spring due to a shoulder and hand injuries.
But offensive coordinator Dan Mullen told me that he doesn’t plan to pick a No. 2 quarterback anytime soon.
“That’s a long way off. Our mindset is that we need to get three starting quarterbacks ready,” Mullen said. “If they accept that they are the backup their preparation can drop off in a hurry. They need to prepare as if they are the starter. Then we will figure it out as the season gets closer.”
Mullen will have to pick a No. 2 eventually because Florida wants to use Tebow’s backup more often this season to give the Heisman winner some rest. They liked the role Tebow played to Chris Leak during the national championship season in 2006. And the fact is you can’t get three quarterbacks ready to play a game because the 2 and 3 guys cannot get enough reps in practice.
3. How good is that Auburn offensive line?: While Auburn fans are talking about the new spread offense of OC Tony Franklin, offensive line coach Hugh Nall may be fielding his best group ever.
Nall had to start three freshmen last season and he had three red-shirt freshmen in the rotation.
“We took a few lumps but we worked through it and now we’re better for it,” said Nall, a former player at Georgia.
There is some talent here. Sophomore Lee Ziemba started 13 games at right tackle last season and now moves over to left tackle. He has a chance to be a star.
“This is a pretty tough bunch,” said Nall, who is not known for excessive praise. “Now we’ve got a lot of guys we can rotate. I like that.”
Franklin says that in order to run his offense properly the offensive line has to be mentally and physically tough.
“We demand a lot of our linemen. Fortunately we’ve got one of the best offensive line coaches in the country,” Franklin said. “He won’t let them be anything but tough.”
4. Who really needs to step up at Florida State?: That would be safety Myron Rolle. Rolle, the former New Jersey high school defensive player of the year, was one of the nation’s most highly recruited players when he signed with Florida State in 2006. He started as a true freshman in 2006 and played very well. Last season he did not improve as the Florida State secondary, which was supposed to be one of the strengths of the team, was a disappointment. Florida State finished 11th in the ACC in passing defense (245.4 ypg).
Rolle is a brilliant student. He graduated from high school early and entered Florida State in January of 2006. On Saturday he’ll graduate with a 3.75 GPA in exercise science. He plans to attend medical school and is expected to be nominated for a Rhodes Scholarship this fall.
Florida State hopes this will be his breakout season in football.
“Myron is a very good player but he has all of the tools to be a great player,” defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews said. “That is what we expect of him.”
5. How big is the return of Demetrice Morley at UT?: Morley, a junior safety from Miami, had to sit out the entire 2007 season and lost his scholarship because of academic issues. But he was readmitted to Tennessee last January and says he is determined to make the most of his second chance. He will be paired with sophomore Eric Berry to give Tennessee one of the best pairs of safeties in the country.
“I thank coach (Phillip) Fulmer and I thank God for this opportunity,” said Morley, who started 10 games in 2006. “Most people do not get a second chance like this.”
Morley says he is now playing for someone other than himself. He now has a young son, Deion, who turned one not long ago.
“I know now that I’ve got the little man to take care of,” Morley said. “He may not know what is going on but when I look in the stands and he’s there, I’ll know. That’s why I’m playing.”
BONUS QUESTION
What does Florida do without CI? The news is terrible on Florida tight end Cornelius Ingram. A preseason All-SEC pick, Ingram came back as a senior because he wanted to win a championship. Now he is out for the season with a torn ACL in his left knee from a non-contact drill.
Florida has other good tight ends. Sophomore Aaron Hernandez was going to get on the field a lot this season in a two tight end package that Florida was developing. Senior Tate Casey was a star early in his career but missed all of last season because of a couple of elbow surgeries.
Florida will make up for Ingram’s 34 catches from last season. What you don’t know is how this injury will affect the team psychologically. Ingram was one of the primary leaders and one of the most popular guys on the team. This was supposed to be his breakout year.
“I think the fact that he’s not going to play this year, that’s a blow to us because he’s a great player, a great kid,” Coach Urban Meyer said last night after practice. “ (He’s) one of my favorite players of all time.”
The Gainesville Sun is reporting that after Ingram has surgery and finishes his rehab, he will begin getting ready for the NFL Draft.
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Georgia game looms large for the Gators
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Gainesville, Fla.-When last we saw the Florida Gators play, head coach Urban Meyer was not a happy camper. His defense had been just been torched by Michigan which resulted in a 41-35 loss in the Capital One Bowl and a final record of 9-4.
With Tim Tebow, the Heisman Trophy winner, coming back for his junior season there was a sense of urgency in the coaches’ offices when I visited on Wednesday. Georgia is ranked preseason No. 1 in the USA Today coaches poll and by Sports Illustrated. The Associated Press poll comes out later this month. But Florida, not Georgia, was the overwhelming choice by the media to win the SEC in 2008.
And while nobody in charge will talk about it, that Nov. 1 date with Georgia in Jacksonville looms pretty large in this building. It is a long-term goal in a program that, under Meyer, is always focused on the short-term goal of using the next practice or the next game to get better.
“We are thinking about the first game with Hawaii,” said Cameron Newton of College Park, who is competing to be Tebow’s backup. “But yeah, the game with Georgia is going to be big after what happened last year (a 42-30 loss). I know our coaches really want it.”
But first Florida has to get to Jacksonville in position to win a championship. Given what will be the SEC’s, and maybe the nation’s, best offense, I think they will.
That’s still a long way off. For now, here are five things that you need to know about the Gators as preseason practice gets into full swing:
1. For Tebow, it’s about the championships: In my meeting with offensive coordinator Dan Mullen, I asked him what Tebow, the first sophomore to win the Heisman Trophy, does for an encore in 2007.
Mullen pointed to two photos in his office. One was a large copy of a Sports Illustrated cover that shows former quarterback Chris Leak holding up the crystal ball after winning the 2006 national championship. The other is a smaller photo, tucked into the corner of the office, of Tebow at the Heisman Trophy ceremonies last December.
“Tim knows that quarterbacks at Florida are ultimately defined by that,” said Mullen, pointing to the photo of Leak, “and not that,” as he pointed to the other photo.
“It’s really about winning the SEC championship because that is what you can control on the field. Quarterbacks are always remembered for championships. Tim knows that.”
2. Harvin still not 100 percent: Percy Harvin, the splendid wide receiver, is not yet completely recovered from April surgery to correct a long-term problem with his heel. His participation in preseason practice will probably be limited but no one here seems concerned. Harvin knows what to do.
“Right now he’s limited because he’s still taking time in recovery but Percy knows he has to get himself ready for games,” Mullen said. “He knows what he is doing in this offense now. He’s played enough.”
When Harvin is healthy and at full speed he is the most dynamic player in this league. He spent all of last season with heel and hip problems. Don’t expect Percy to be pushed too much in practice this season. He is too valuable.
3. Taking care of Tebow: Tebow carried the ball 210 times last season. Kestahn Moore was second on the team with only 104 carries. Mullen concedes that that just simply can’t happen again in 2008. Tebow had a couple of significant injuries that slowed him down at the end of last season. Even if Tebow doesn’t get hurt, the wear and tear of the pounding by SEC defenses has to take its toll.
“Yes, we have to get the ball out of his hands,” Mullen said. “The good news is we’ve gotten to the point were we have guys like Cameron Newton who can come in a take some of that (offensive) package because he’s ready. We also have more guys we can put at the tailback position (like Chris Rainey and Emmanuel Moody), who can take some of those runs away.”
This may be too much X’s and O’s talk for Aug. 7, but here’s the thing that makes it so tempting to run the ball with Tebow. When Tebow is in the shotgun and the Gators have three wide receivers, the defensive is spread to the point where Florida actually has a numerical mismatch. Tebow is such a good runner that the play almost always does well.
But even on good plays Tebow will get his shots. Auburn’s game plan last year when they beat Florida in Gainesville was to get after Tebow on every single play. You can bet that the rest of the league will follow suit. This year they have to protect the Franchise.
4. Florida’s new complex is impressive: Since my last visit the school has invested $28 million to build the new football complex on the southwest corner of Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. It is a new and impressive “front door” to the entire football operation, where the school can entertain recruits and their families and provide a place for fans to congregate on game day.
The coaches’ offices have been completely renovated with state of the art flat screen TVs and new meeting rooms.
In short, Meyer wanted something tangible and impressive to be able to sell Florida’s history of success and tradition to recruits. It is no accident that when a recruit and his family walk up the stairs to the main football office, there is a flat screen television in the lobby playing continuous footage of “Gators in the NFL.”
“We have this incredible tradition at Florida and it is our job to put this on display for everyone to see,” Meyer said. “We are proud of it. We think we have a lot of sell here. This helps us do that.”
5. Concerned about C.I. Tight end Cornelius Ingram injured his knee in practice on Tuesday. Results of an MRI are expected to be released as early as this morning. If “C.I.” is out for the season or even part of season that would be a big blow for the Gators.
With all of the moving parts in Florida’s offense, having a quality tight end gives the Gators an incredible advantage. Ingram came back for his senior season because it was clear that Florida had really been plans for him. He caught 34 passes for 508 yards last season.
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Florida State a lot like Alabama
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tallahassee, Fla.-Our preseason tour continues at Florida State where Jimbo Fisher is the head coach in waiting for Bobby Bowden, Division I-A football’s all-time winner.
Later this summer we will do a Q&A with Fisher as he walks us through what the season will be like for him and for Bowden. But on Tuesday I spent time hanging around the football offices trying to pick up some nuggets about the Seminoles, who have gone 7-6 the past two seasons. Here are a few:
1. Florida State, Alabama programs are similar: Florida State’s success has tailed off the last three season (8-5, 7-6, 7-6) for one reason only. The Seminoles’ simply don’t have as many great football players as they did during the great run of 1987-2000 when they finished in the top five of the polls for 14 straight seasons.
Why did recruiting drop off? There are a lot of reasons but here’s two: Georgia’s program was elevated under Mark Richt (who came in 2001) and LSU’s program began locking down the best players in that state when Nick Saban got there about the same time. Before that Florida State would routinely go into Georgia (Charlie Ward) and Louisiana (Warrick Dunn) to cherry pick great players.
Like Alabama, Florida State is convinced that this incoming recruiting class will be the foundation for the resurgence of the program. This season will be spent trying to blend these talented, young players with the veteran players.
“We could be wrong. But if we evaluated these players properly, they will be talented enough to push a lot of our older guys,” Fisher said. “We think that’s a good thing.”
2. The first three games will be interesting: Florida State will be without seven starters in the first three games (Western Carolina, Chattanooga, Wake Forest) because of the academic cheating scandal that was revealed last December. The coaching staff has a dilemma. You have to get the new guys ready to play the first three games but you also have to the get suspended guys ready for the rest of the season after they come back.
So the question is: How do you practice? Who gets the most reps?
Fisher and defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews have a plan.
“We’re going to put the suspended guys in their regular spots for the first 3-4 days of practice,” Fisher said. “We will get them settled. Then we will move them back and bring in the young guys in order to get them ready for the game. And we’re going to ask the guys who can’t play to help us coach the new guys. If it works like we hope, we’ll get to the fourth game with some proven depth.”
But Andrews, in his 25th year as defensive coordinator, adds this: “We may have some suspended guys who won’t be starters when they come back. Some of these young guys are pretty good.”
3. Three JUCOs will make an immediate impact: Defensive end Markus White was the national junior college defensive player of the year and led the country in sacks (26). He will team with Everette Brown at the other end to give Florida State the kind of players off the edge that the Seminoles have been lacking the past few seasons.
“Markus just came to us this summer but we think he has a chance to be outstanding,” Andrews told me.
One of the things Fisher wants to do is sign bigger, more durable backs for Florida State like the ones he had at LSU. Antone Smith (5-9, 188) is still the starting tailback but he will be pushed by JUCO transfer Tavares Pressley (6-1, 215). Pressley averaged less than 10 carries a game at El Camino (Calif.) Community College but ran for 832 yards.
Wide receiver Corey Surrency is big (6-5, 210) was recruited by LSU and West Virginia.
“We expect all of the JUCOs to have an immediate impact,” Fisher said.
4. Florida State will be stronger and better-conditioned: One of the problems Florida State has had during its recent slide was an overall lack of physical conditioning. No one will say this out loud, but I have always believed that the death of Devaughn Darling in 2001 had a psychological affect on this program. Darling, just 18, collapsed and died during off-season conditioning drills in March.
Todd Stroud, a former Seminole football player, came here in 2007 to take over the strength and conditioning program. He has now had time to put his program in place and start getting results.
The off-season conditioning program is vital to the success of a football team in the fall. The conditioning coach has to be willing to push players, but be smart about it, in order for them to improve. It’s not easy, but it is very important.
“It’s made all the difference in the world,” Fisher said of the off-season program. “Our guys are much stronger.”
5. Keep your eye on Christian Ponder at quarterback: Senior Drew Weatherford has started 33 games at quarterback for Florida State and deserves to be the starter when the season begins. But don’t be surprised if red-shirt sophomore Christian Ponder makes an impact pretty early in this season.
“Drew has done a good job for us but so has Christian,” Fisher said. “He is now mentally ready to play.”
How smart is Ponder? He graduated from high school early and enrolled at Florida State in January of 2006. He will graduate this week (in less than three years) and start pursuing his Master’s degree this fall.
Weatherford will also be pushed by D’Vontrey Richarson, a red-shirt sophomore from Leesburg, and true freshman E.J. Manuel from Virginia Beach. Manuel, Fisher told me, will get his reps in preseason practice and get a chance to compete for the job.
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Tennessee is getting no love. And the Vols like it.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Knoxville-Five things we learned on a recent visit to Tennessee:
1. Tennessee is getting no love. And they like it: Tennessee won 10 games last season, including a New Year’s Day bowl game. One more good decision by the quarterback and the Volunteers probably beat LSU for the SEC championship.
But at the recent SEC media days only two hearty souls out of 70 picked the Vols to win the SEC East. The conventional wisdom is that Georgia and Florida are both top five teams and the Volunteers are a step below in terms of talent. And before this season is over that assessment could be completely accurate.
In short, outside of the state, not a lot of people are talking about Tennessee or giving them any shot in the SEC East. The Vols are totally under the radar.
And you know what? They kind of like it.
Fairburn’s Eric Berry insists this team has undergone a transformation since early in the year when there was a round of off the field incidents involving players. The seniors met privately and self imposed a curfew on the team and since then things have been calmer.
“People are overlooking this team but that’s okay,” said Berry, the splendid safety. “This team is very close and we expect to surprise some people.”
2. Tennessee has to run the ball, period: David Cutcliffe was a brilliant offensive coordinator for Tennessee and made quarterback Erik Ainge into a better player than I thought possible. But truth be told, Cutcliffe would get impatient when the running game was not working. In short, Tennessee would spend more time TALKING about running the football than actually RUNNING the football. In 14 games last season Tennessee ran the ball only 459 times. Only Ole Miss (379) and South Carolina ran it fewer times (382).
To be fair, one reason Cutcliffe got impatient with the run is that he needed to score as many points as possible because the Tennessee defense simply was not stopping people last season (11th in total defense, 403 ypg).
“But one thing I’ve learned is that in this league, when you are holding on a lead in the fourth quarter, you have to be able to run some clock and keep your defense rested,” said Dave Clawson, Tennessee’s new offensive coordinator.
With a veteran offense line, a stable of very good running backs, and a defense that still has issues, Tennessee must to commit to the running game this season.
3. Fulmer excited about Clawson: Understand that Clawson, who came here after leading Richmond (11-3) to the Division I-AA semifinals last season, is the first person outside of the Tennessee “family” to call the plays in 20 years. He brings fresh ideas and a new set of eyes. Players feel they get another chance to prove themselves. This is going to be interesting and here’s why.
“I was doing my film study during the spring and when David was here I might have had one page of notes on things I wanted to ask him about because we knew each other’s thoughts. We had worked together a long time,” Fulmer said over breakfast. “When I watched Dave’s group I took down about six pages of notes of things that caught my attention. I’m excited about this guy and what he is bringing to the table.”
Clawson is considered a rising star the business. He’s proven himself at every level of college football except this one. You’re going to see a lot of energy on this offense.
“The athletes in this league are simply incredible,” Clawson said.
4. The defense simply can’t be that bad again. Can it? John Chavis is a proud man. The Tennessee DC has taken some shots the past couple of years because, frankly, the Volunteers just haven’t been very good on defense.
Here are two glaring stats beyond the total defense number above. Tennessee gave up 300 first downs last season. That was more than any team in the league. Tennessee’s defense gave up 382 points in 2007, more than any defense in Volunteer history.
One of the problems last season was that some guys who coaches expected to step up in the front seven simply did not. Tennessee is still dangerously thin on the defensive line and teams that can pound the ball on the ground will probably give them trouble. They will be able to mask some of those problems against teams that don’t run the ball that well.
“I know we’re going to be better,” said safety Demetrice Morley, who returns to the team after sitting out last season with academic issues. “I hated that I couldn’t be out there helping. We are going to find ways to get (our opponent) off the field.”
5. September is crucial: After getting embarrassed by Alabama (41-17) last season Tennessee was 4-3 and played the rest of the season with its collective backs to the wall. They survived four elimination games in the SEC East and got to Atlanta.
“It was one of the most gratifying seasons I’ve ever had in coaching,” Fulmer said. “A lot of people gave up on us. But our guys just kept playing. They deserve the credit.”
But Tennessee and Fulmer should not tempt fate again. September’s schedule is at UCLA, UAB and Florida at home, and at Auburn. If Tennessee is going to challenge in the SEC East, the Vols need to find a way to win one of those two SEC games at the end of the month.
Because if Tennessee loses to both Florida and Auburn it’s a real possibility that the Vols will be 0-3 in the league after their next SEC game at Georgia on Oct. 11.
Fulmer is secure because he has a brand new contract that effectively takes the issue of his future off the table.
But we are talking a quality of life issue, here. And if Tennessee starts 0-3 in the SEC, it ain’t going to be a lot fun around here.
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The question at Bama: When do you play the rookies?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Tuscaloosa, Ala.-Last Friday I wrote that the talented freshman class at Alabama was about to have a reality check with the beginning of practice here in T-Town. Part of my thinking in making that comment was that I have seen so many overly hyped high school players and recruiting classes wilt early in their careers when they realize the true talent level in the SEC.
Then I decided that the comment really wasn’t fair. I haven’t seen these guys practice. I only know them by what others have written. So I got in the car and drove to Tuscaloosa to watch the first 40 minutes of Saturday’s practice, which is what the media is allowed to attend. Here is what I saw:
These freshmen are just now learning where to line up. Over the next few weeks they are going to be bombarded with tons of information and will spend a lot of time being confused. The learning curve for freshmen in this league is very steep. In Nick Saban’s system it’s even steeper. He does not baby freshmen when it comes to dumping a lot of information on them early.
But after you’ve done this for a while you can look at players-their size, their speed, and how they carry themselves-and tell that they are different. And this group of Alabama freshmen IS different.
Saturday was the first day that the freshmen were on the field with the upperclassmen. And it wasn’t that difficult to pick out the new guys. Everybody knows about Julio Jones and B.J. Scott, the talented wide receivers. Alabama is so thin at linebacker that Jerrell Harris and Donta Hightower are going to have to play. You can look at them and tell that when they learn what to do, they will make a contribution.
Word here is that as many as seven or more of these freshmen could find their way onto the two-deep for the Aug. 30 opener with Clemson at the Georgia Dome. Alabama was sorely lacking in depth when the Crimson Tide collapsed in the second half of last season. These freshmen will improve that situation.
“Last year we just didn’t have enough depth to overcome it when we hit a bump in the road,” Saban told me when we met in his office. “But now we have a group of really good young players. How they develop is going to go a long way into saying what kind of football team we can be.”
I don’t know how many games Alabama is going to win but this will still be a very interesting season for the Crimson Tide. Here’s why. In a lot of positions at Alabama a good, solid veteran player is going to be pushed by a younger, more talented player. Coaches have to walk a tightrope when dealing with this kind of situation. Even if the younger player has more talent, the timing of moving him into the starting lineup is very tricky.
If you make the move too soon the young player struggles because he’s not completely prepared. Then he loses confidence. Also, the veteran player who loses his job may go in the tank because he’s no longer the starter.
But if you make the decision to move the kid up too late that’s not fair to the team. You’re not giving your team every opportunity to get better.
This is not like the NFL where you put the best player in the position, period, and cut the other guy if he doesn’t like it. In college these things have to be handled with a certain amount of finesse because you don’t cut guys or trade guys or pick up guys on the waiver wire.
Here is the trick, one of the coaches told me. You hope that over time the younger player makes it abundantly clear to everybody-even the veteran player that he’s challenging—that he has earned the position. Then you make the move and hope that the veteran player will remain engaged. If he’s a team guy the veteran will keep playing. If he’s not, then there could be a problem.
Alabama’s coaching staff is going to spend the 2008 season dealing with a bunch of these mini-dramas. It will make for some lively discussions in the staff meetings.
I was reminded that LSU’s 2007 national championship began with a great freshman class signed by Saban and his staff in 2004. This Alabama class, that person told me, looks better. Time will tell.
All I know is that if these guys play as good as they look, Alabama will be a pretty decent team by the end of the year.
On a personal note: I want to acknowledge and say thanks to those of you who wrote words of encouragement concerning an upcoming change in my relationship with the AJC. Given the realities of the blogosphere the word has gotten out about some of the tough decisions a lot of us in this business are having to make. I’m not in a position to talk about it now but I hope to be able to do so soon. But I did want to thank you for the kind notes.
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It’s reality check day for Alabama’s freshmen
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s Friday. We’re 27 days from the start of the season and there is already a ton of stuff we need to talk about:
1. Today is reality check day for Alabama’s freshmen: Since last February they have been known as the nation’s No. 1 recruiting class. Today Alabama’s freshmen have to put on their shoes and realize that high school is over. It’s time to play with the big boys. There is obviously talent there and guys like receiver Julio Jones are going to have to grow up in a hurry. They need to play now because Alabama is thin at several positions like wide receiver and linebacker.
“We will always welcome a guy who can help us win,” senior offensive lineman Antoine Caldwell said. “But everybody has to prove themselves once they get out on the field.”
Translation: That high school rep doesn’t mean much in the heat of two-a-days at this level. Welcome to the SEC, rookie.
Alabama opens its season on Aug. 30 against Clemson in the Georgia Dome.
2. Stephen Garcia needs to stay out of the spotlight: For a guy who has never played one down of college football, Stephen Garcia has gotten a lot of ink in his 18 months at South Carolina. He caught a huge break Thursday when the University decided to reinstate him for the beginning of practice. Garcia, who had three run-ins with the law in 15 months, was supposed to be banned from team activities until August 15. Now he’ll get to practice.
But young Mr. Garcia won’t be talking to the media anytime soon.
“Stephen does need any more attention,” coach Steve Spurrier said on Thursday.
This is good for Garcia and here’s why. The word I get is that Garcia has had a tough time handling the hype that came with his recruitment. Part of his bad behavior was a reaction to that pressure. He needs to be a backup quarterback for a while. But if South Carolina struggles at the quarterback position in the first two games with N.C. State and Vanderbilt, Spurrier may need for Garcia to play when Georgia comes to town on Sept. 13. Stay tuned.
3. Auburn will play two quarterbacks: When I sat down with Auburn OC Tony Franklin on Wednesday he made it clear that he would like for one of his two quarterbacks—Kodi Burns or Chris Todd—to lock down the starting job in August. “It’s easier if it’s one. It’s easier in practice because he would get most of the reps and the game planning is easier,” Franklin said. “I’d like for one of them to evolve and say that this was the guy who is going to take us. But I really don’t foresee any way that they both don’t play. That’s because they are both good.”
Two nuggets here:
Todd, a transfer from Texas Tech, had a dead arm in the spring. “He says it’s 100 percent now but I’m going to wait and see for myself,” Franklin said. “Because when his arm is 100 percent it’s pretty special.”
Burns is not a natural passer but he is getting better in a hurry. In scrimmages before the bowl game he completed 38 percent of his passes. In the first half of the spring it was 55 and in the last two scrimmages he was over 70 percent.
4. Hart a good hire for Alabama: Dave Hart had a very successful career as Florida State’s athletics director. But Hart was also known to have his differences with FSU’s strong-willed president, T.K. Wetherell. In that battle the president always wins and Hart was not so gently pushed out the door.
But the former basketball player at Alabama is returning to his alma mater as the right-hand man to athletics director Mal Moore. It is a very good hire for all parties involved and here’s why. Hart is a great detail man and will handle the day-to-day operations of that department very well. Moore is good at rallying the Alabama family to open up their wallets when the need arises.
Was Hart brought in to replace Moore? It might seem that way but consider this: Every other year somebody is saying or writing that Mal Moore is on his way out. All I know is that Alabama’s facilities used to be some of the worst in the SEC. Now they are among the best. That has all happened on Moore’s watch.
5. Kentucky QB race may solve itself: Mike Hartline and Curtis Pulley came out of spring practice in a dead heat to replace Andre Woodson as Kentucky’s quarterback. But Pulley, a 6-4 junior, was cited for marijuana possession in June and then was caught speeding and driving with a suspended license in late July.
The real problem with Pulley’s transgressions was that he did not inform coach Rich Brooks immediately. Brooks found out about it from a television reporter when he got back last Friday from SEC Media Days. Not good.
Pulley has had his issues at Kentucky. He actually won the job from Woodson in the spring 2006 only to lose it. He will lose playing time. He is also running out of chances with his head coach.
“It’s kind of like if you’ve got money in the bank you can withdraw only so much,” Brooks said of Pulley. “If you overdraw you’ve got a real problem
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